Charles Walker (British politician)

Sir Charles Ashley Rupert Walker KBE (born 11 September 1967) is a British politician and statesman who served as Chair of the House of Commons Procedure Committee from 2012 to 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Broxbourne since 2005.

For other people named Charles Walker, see Charles Walker (disambiguation).

Sir Charles Walker

KBE MP
Walker in 2020
Chairman of the 1922 Committee
In office
24 May 2019 – 3 September 2019
Serving with Cheryl Gillan
LeaderTheresa May
Boris Johnson
SecretaryBob Blackman
Nigel Evans
Preceded byGraham Brady
Succeeded byGraham Brady (Acting)[1]
Chair of the House of Commons Procedure Committee
In office
17 October 2012 – 5 November 2019
Preceded byGreg Knight
Succeeded byKaren Bradley
Member of Parliament
for Broxbourne
Assumed office
5 May 2005
Preceded byMarion Roe
Majority19,807 (42.4%)
Personal details
Born
Charles Ashley Rupert Walker

(1967-09-11) 11 September 1967
Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Alma materUniversity of Oregon

Early life and education

Born in Henley-on-Thames in September 1967, Walker was educated at The American School in London, followed by the University of Oregon in the United States, receiving a BSc in Political Science in 1990.[2][3][4]

Career

Walker was a member of Wandsworth Council from 2002–06. He has pursued a career in marketing and communications and has held senior positions within a number of people focused businesses. He was on the Board of Directors of Blue Arrow, the staffing firm, which places upwards of 20,000 people into work each day.[5] Walker belonged to the trade union Amicus.[6]

In the 2005 general election he was elected Member of Parliament for Broxbourne.[7] He had previously stood in Ealing North in 2001.

Walker was one of the 23 MPs to sign the motion of no confidence in Speaker Michael Martin.[8]

Walker sat on the Scottish Select Committee from 2005 to 2010 and was also a member of the Public Administration Select Committee from 2007 to 2010.

He joined the Panel of Chairs in 2010 and was co-Chair of the Education Bill that went through Committee in 2011. In May 2010 he was elected Vice Chairman of the 1922 Committee and in the same year was elected to the Conservative Party Board.

In July 2013, Walker voted in favour of extending same-sex marriage to England and Wales.[9]

In December 2013 Walker was the only MP to confirm he would accept an 11% pay increase.[10]

Following the 2015 general election, he was returned unopposed as chairman of the Procedure Committee.[11]

Walker was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for political service,[12][13] and was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in Theresa May's resignation honours on 10 September 2019, "for political and public service".[14]

In October 2020, in response to the Conservative government's attempt to control COVID-19 through a three tier system, Walker said that the government seemed to think it could "abolish death" and should accept that elderly people died. He also accused scientists on the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies committee of choosing to "ramp up" the "fear factor" regarding the disease.[15] Regarding the second tier regulations in November, Walker said "As we drift further into an authoritarian coercive state, the only legal mechanism left open to me is to vote against that legislation. The people of this country will never, ever forgive the political class for criminalising parents seeing children."[16]

In November 2020, he was seen calling police officers a "disgrace" while they were enforcing the government laws surrounding COVID-19 by arresting a 72-year-old woman who was charged under the Coronavirus Act.[17] Walker has supported calls for the British Constitution to be codified into a single written document (it is currently uncodified) to prevent curbs on civil liberties.[18]

Relationship with Speaker Bercow

In October 2012, he was elected as chairman of the Procedure Committee, which decides on the process for election of a new Speaker of the House of Commons. In addition to his chairing duties, Walker is a member of the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (SCIPSA) and answers Parliamentary questions on behalf of the Committee. His championship of the pay rise and membership of the Committee led to him being described by The Daily Telegraph as being in with an outside chance of becoming speaker when John Bercow stands down.[19]

In the last parliamentary session before the 2015 general election, Walker explained what he knew about the Government decision to force a vote on changing the rules for electing a speaker for the next parliament. Conservative MPs disliked John Bercow. Walker said that he had written a report on the subject "years ago" but although he had talked to William Hague and Michael Gove that week, neither had told him their objectives. He had only found out via the grapevine, and stated that he would rather be an honourable fool than part of a plot. The government lost the vote and Walker received a standing ovation.[20][21]

Contribution to destigmatising mental health issues

Walker has lived with obsessive-compulsive disorder for more than 30 years, stating his disability in 2012 whilst Labour's Kevan Jones simultaneously described his problems with depression. Both MPs were praised for historic speeches on a taboo subject, albeit one experienced by one in four people.[22]

He has twice won The Spectator Speech of the Year at its annual Parliamentarian of the Year Awards: the first time in 2011 and the second time in 2012 when he shared the award with Kevan Jones. He was also one of The Spectator's Parliamentarians of the Year in 2013. In 2012, he was chosen as one of the Telegraph's "50 Great Britons" for that year and was also one of The Guardian's "Stories of 2012".[23]

In November 2013, he was awarded the President's Medal by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.[24]

Personal life

Walker is the stepson of middle distance runner and former Conservative MP Sir Christopher Chataway. He is married and has three children.[25]

Electoral history
General election 2019: Broxbourne[26]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Walker 30,631 65.6 3.4
Labour Sean Waters 10,824 23.2 5.7
Liberal Democrats Julia Bird 3,970 8.5 5.4
Green Nicholas Cox 1,281 2.7 1.0
Majority 19,807 42.4 9.2
Turnout 46,706 63.8 0.8
Conservative hold Swing 4.6
General election 2017: Broxbourne[27]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Walker 29,515 62.2 6.1
Labour Selina Norgrove 13,723 28.9 10.5
UKIP Tony Faulkner 1,918 4.0 15.7
Liberal Democrats Andy Graham 1,481 3.1 0.1
Green Tabitha Evans 848 1.8 0.9
Majority 15,792 33.3 3.0
Turnout 47,485 66.3 3.2
Conservative hold Swing 2.2


General election 2015: Broxbourne[28]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Walker 25,797 56.1 2.7
UKIP David Platt 9,074 19.7 15.6
Labour Edward Robinson 8,470 18.4 0.8
Liberal Democrats Anthony Rowlands 1,467 3.2 10.2
Green Russell Secker 1,216 2.6 N/A
Majority 16,723 36.3 4.9
Turnout 46,024 63.1 0.9
Conservative hold Swing 9.2
General election 2005: Broxbourne[29]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Walker 21,878 53.8 0.3
Labour Jamie Bolden 10,369 25.5 4.9
Liberal Democrats Andrew Porrer 4,973 12.2 1.2
BNP Andrew Emerson 1,929 4.7 2.5
UKIP Martin J. Harvey 1,479 3.6 1.3
Majority 11,509 28.3 4.6
Turnout 40,628 59.7 4.0
Conservative hold Swing 2.3
General election 2001: Ealing North[30]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Stephen Pound 25,022 55.7 +2.0
Conservative Charles Walker 13,185 29.3 −7.9
Liberal Democrats Francesco R. Fruzza 5,043 11.2 +4.2
UKIP Daniel Moss 668 1.5 +0.2
Green Astra Seibe 1,039 2.3 +1.4
Majority 11,837 26.3 +9.8
Turnout 44,957 58.0 −13.3
Registered electors 77,524
Labour hold Swing +4.9

References
  1. "Sir Graham Brady to return as chairman of the 1922 Committee". ITV News. Greater Manchester. 3 September 2019. Archived from the original on 4 September 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2019. A statement from the committee said he would return as chairman "until a new executive is elected in the next session of Parliament".
  2. "Charles Walker, Charles Walker MP talks to Rethink Mental Illness about living with OCD". YouTube. Rethink Mental Illness. 3 June 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  3. "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  4. "OBE for Broxbourne MP Charles Walker". Hertfordshire Mercury. 30 December 2014. Archived from the original on 26 July 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  5. "Charles Walker". Archived from the original on 5 May 2009. Retrieved 10 May 2009.
  6. Charles Walker official website Archived 22 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Palmer, Ewan (30 October 2015). "Tampon Tax: Full list of MPs who voted against cutting VAT on women's sanitary products". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 21 May 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  8. "MPs' expenses: Speaker Michael Martin no confidence motion signatories". The Daily Telegraph. 19 May 2009. Archived from the original on 26 March 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  9. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/11461/charles_walker/broxbourne/votes
  10. Prynne, Miranda (12 December 2013). "Telegraph database: find out if your MP is planning to take Ipsa's 11 per cent pay hike". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  11. "Winning candidates for select committee Chairs announced". UK Parliament. 18 June 2015. Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
  12. "No. 61092". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2014. p. N15.
  13. "2015 New Year Honours List" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 January 2015. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  14. "Resignation Honours 2019". GOV.UK. Archived from the original on 10 September 2019. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  15. Simons, Ned (12 October 2020). "Tory MP Charles Walker Says Government Can't Stop Elderly Dying From Coronavirus". HuffPost. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  16. Landler, Mark; Castle, Stephen (2 November 2020). "U.K.'s Johnson Faces a Growing Revolt Over His Coronavirus Policy". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  17. Carpani, Jessica (24 November 2020). "Sir Charles Walker demands PM responds after 'elderly lady peacefully protesting' is arrested". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  18. Casalicchio, Emilio (2 November 2020). "5 things the UK's lockdown-skeptic MPs want from Boris Johnson". POLITICO. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  19. Hope, Christopher (30 December 2013). "Keith Vaz 'could be next Speaker of the House of Commons'". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 5 January 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  20. Treneman, Ann (27 March 2015). "An honourable fool brings the House down". The Times. Archived from the original on 27 March 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  21. Wintour, Patrick (27 March 2015). "Tory backbench rebellion defeats Hague's attempt to unseat Speaker". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  22. "MPs Charles Walker and Kevan Jones tell of mental health issues". BBC News. 14 June 2012. Archived from the original on 17 June 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  23. Mulholland, Hélène (26 December 2012). "Charles Walker MP: 'I've made peace with it. I've got it off my chest'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
  24. https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/docs/default-source/about-us/library-archives/archives-document-library/archives-roll-of-honor.pdf?sfvrsn=1ff0ad8_18
  25. "Charles Walker". Archived from the original on 5 May 2009. Retrieved 10 May 2009.
  26. https://ex.broxbourne.gov.uk/sites/default/files/documents/Member_services/StatementOfPersonsNominated-12-12-2019.pdf
  27. "UK Parliamentary Election: Broxbourne Constituency: Statement of persons nominated and notice of poll" (PDF). Broxbourne Borough Council. 11 May 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  28. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  29. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  30. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Marion Roe		 Member of Parliament for Broxbourne
2005–present		 Incumbent
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